Sulliden’s drills stall at Mario (December 31, 2001)

Nearly out of cash, Sulliden Exploration (sue-t) has suspended a 3,500-metre drilling campaign on the Mario base metal property, 50 km southwest of Huancayo, Peru.

Sullivan had drilled about 1,553 metres to test the Punapuna high-grade zinc-lead-silver massive sulphide zone and its untested northerly and southerly extensions. Expected payments that would have come into its treasury from earlier private placements of stock were delayed, forcing Sulliden to cut the program short.

The Punapuna zone is part of a large electromagnetic anomaly discovered during a geophysical survey in August 2001. It occurs at a contact between marble and brecciated dacite on the western flank of a dacitic dome. More recently, a horizontal-loop electromagnetic survey confirmed that the conductor extends for more than 1 km south of section 450 S and 500 metres north of section 300 S. It follows the same limestone-dacite contact that hosts Punapuna and reaches a width of up to 100 metres over the last 300 metres to the southeast.

The prospective intrusive contact can be traced for about 2 km. The company is looking for additional financing to resume drilling.

The first hole cut a zone of well-mineralized skarn at the dacite-marble contact, with disseminated-to-semi-massive sphalerite and pyrite, associated with a typical skarn-type assemblage of epidote, rhodochrosite and calc-silicate minerals. A 2.6-metre mineralized interval ran 4.5% zinc.

The second hole encountered mainly pyrrhotite, pyrite and magnetite, with minor sphalerite and chalcopyrite. Again, the mineralization lies at the contact between the limestone unit and the dacite/diorite intrusive body.

Last August, Sulliden signed an agreement with Cominco, now Teck Cominco (tek-t), to earn a 100% interest in the 27-sq.-km property, where the major spent two years carrying out mapping, geophysical surveys and drilling.

The Montreal-based junior can earn its interest by spending US$1.2 million over six years, including US$100,000 in the first year. If Sulliden completes its earn-in, Cominco will retain a 2% net smelter return royalty.